How much trouble is Kristi Noem in?

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Even if you don’t follow politics closely, you probably know a few things about Kristi Noem. She’s the one that some critics have dubbed “ICE Barbie.” Also, unforgivably: the one who shot her dog.

Noem, most importantly, is the secretary of Donald Trump’s embattled and emboldened Department of Homeland Security, and is thus tasked with overseeing the immigration crackdown that’s brought chaos to Minneapolis and other cities. Since that campaign claimed the life of a second US citizen last weekend, many lawmakers — including some Republicans — have begun calling for Noem’s ouster. 

Whether that will actually happen — and whether it would represent any real rebuke or de-escalation of Trump’s unchecked deportation campaign — is anybody’s guess. But if you want to understand Kristi Noem or the broader palace intrigue at Homeland Security, Ben Terris is a good guy to ask. Terris, the Washington correspondent for New York magazine, published a witty, wild, revelatory profile of Noem last September. So in today’s edition, he answers the question: Whither Kristi Noem (…and her wider circus)?

Hey Ben! I wanted to talk to you now because it feels like we’re potentially reaching a turning point in Trump’s immigration enforcement campaign.

Since the start of his second term, DHS bulked up, adopted more aggressive tactics and launched these militarized operations in a number of US cities. But even within the administration and the Republican party, it seems like there may be some appetite for some kind of drawdown following the shooting death of Alex Pretti. Can........

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